Revamped Microsoft Office Will Be Free on the Web
By ASHLEE VANCE
NYT
Microsoft has created a chimera in its new Office 2010 software, part desktop software and part Web app.
This latest version of Office, which includes applications like Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, is Microsoft’s long-awaited effort to modernize one of its most lucrative products and to thwart rivals like Google that are nipping at its heels with free Web software.
For the first time, Microsoft will provide a free online version of Office that lets people store their documents on the Web rather than on their personal computers.
If all goes according to Microsoft’s plan, this technology, along with a host of other features, will persuade businesses and consumers to upgrade their Office software once again. “It is a remarkable moment,” said Stephen Elop, the president of Microsoft’s business software division, who will showcase Office 2010 on Wednesday at an event in New York.
It is now available for businesses. Microsoft has said that Office will range in price from a limited, free Web version supported by ads to a full-blown version that costs $500, both to be available to consumers in June. Most analysts say they think Microsoft will hold on to its near monopoly on productivity software. Richard Williams, the senior software analyst at Cross Research, said that most companies would continue to choose Office because it was familiar and safe. “This is not the cycle that will take away from Windows or Office,” he said. “Most of the people calling the shots and paying the bills are in their 40s, and grew up with Microsoft.”
(More here.)
NYT
Microsoft has created a chimera in its new Office 2010 software, part desktop software and part Web app.
This latest version of Office, which includes applications like Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, is Microsoft’s long-awaited effort to modernize one of its most lucrative products and to thwart rivals like Google that are nipping at its heels with free Web software.
For the first time, Microsoft will provide a free online version of Office that lets people store their documents on the Web rather than on their personal computers.
If all goes according to Microsoft’s plan, this technology, along with a host of other features, will persuade businesses and consumers to upgrade their Office software once again. “It is a remarkable moment,” said Stephen Elop, the president of Microsoft’s business software division, who will showcase Office 2010 on Wednesday at an event in New York.
It is now available for businesses. Microsoft has said that Office will range in price from a limited, free Web version supported by ads to a full-blown version that costs $500, both to be available to consumers in June. Most analysts say they think Microsoft will hold on to its near monopoly on productivity software. Richard Williams, the senior software analyst at Cross Research, said that most companies would continue to choose Office because it was familiar and safe. “This is not the cycle that will take away from Windows or Office,” he said. “Most of the people calling the shots and paying the bills are in their 40s, and grew up with Microsoft.”
(More here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home